Thoughts? *rant

I agree. I have to exercise just to avoid going over....

Being absolutely honest, it does happen to me.

When I'm eating healthier food and keeping track of what I'm eating, I sometimes get to the end of the day at something like 700-900 calories and don't really feel hungry at all. Usually I'll find something nutritious that I can force myself to eat to get to a more reasonable number for the day. Sometimes I'll just make a note to eat more calories at breakfast than I normally would the following day to help keep things from getting too far out of balance.

Keep in mind that when people are eating extremely high numbers of calories, they're usually eating food that is very calorie dense and very nutrient poor. If you change around the nature of your diet substantially rather than purely focusing on the calorie #'s, the level of hunger does tend to adjust to some degree alongside it.

I want to add that while I didn't eat for days in the past, I don't think I could do that now. Your body gets used to things. I'm now used to eating at certain times of the day. So my body tells me it's time to eat.

If you don't eat for a long time, then your body stops asking for food. And under those circumstances, it doesn't much like it when you do feed it. It's not an easy thing to overcome so have some sympathy for those people.

From what I have read eating fewer than the recommended daily calories for yourself sends your body into starvation mode and makes your metabolic rate lower causing weight gain. I have had days that at the end I've only hit 900 calories or a little more and haven't been hungry. Although, I think my problem stems from drinking 2 to 3 gallons of water daily so 8 feel full, but calorie-wise I'm not.

I know what you mean, sometimes I feel the same way. However there a couple of things to consider.

Like a few people have already pointed out, when people join MFP they often commit to healthier lifestyles - sometimes eliminating processed and calorie-dense foods altogether. So someone who ate McDonalds for 3 meals a day could gain weight from that, then join MFP and eat the same actual AMOUNT of food but mostly fruits/veggies and end up with under 1000 cals a day. Also keep in mind that a lot of these people didn't exercise in the past and now exercise almost daily. So they may be eating as much as they used to but NETTING under 1000 after exercise. I've seen people on here that burn crazy amounts of cals exercising; there's no way they can eat all that back. Thus they end up full on a low amount of net calories.

Also I know that some days for me, if I wake up late and don't have time to eat breakfast or something, I'll then eat a regular-sized lunch and maybe a smaller dinner if I'm still full from lunch. Next thing I know it's bedtime, I'm full, and I'm only at like 800 calories for the day. Whoops.

You really can't judge people based on what their body tells them. You don't choose to feel hungry, and they don't choose to have no hunger signals. I have a friend who's suffering an extreme case of this, on top of chronic fatigue which sends her into a vicious circle of not enough sleep or food, and not enough energy to cook.

Some people get more hunger signals than others, it isn't a choice. It's partly metabolism, partly what your body has been used to as a lifestyle, and partly the choice of foods you use to fill yourself - as people have said, switching from junk to healthy food can mean less calories but a fuller sensation.

One of the biggest things to learn at MFP is not to judge people, because everybody's different and everyone's goal is to improve. There will always be misguided or foolish people, but you can tell whether it's ignorance or stubbornness fairly quickly.

Ehhh. I do find by eating the RIGHT things, I am less hungry eating less than I used to be by eating more. Do I ever just eat 800 calories? Only the day I had oral surgery and was on serious pain meds for the day and the anaesthesia had not fully worn off... I wasn't hungry that day and I ate nothing... None-the-less, on a normal day, I eat much less than I used to and often am not hungry -- sometimes I am but restrict my eating to a reasonable level anyway. One factor to consider is that the processed foods such as "snack foods", "snack cakes", "chips", "etc... contain a wide variety of preservatives... many of these are known to be appetite enhancers... Therefore, you get a quick fix for hunger and 30 minutes later are hungry again... Being the suspicious person that I am capable of being, no doubt, there is a bit more than just wanting to "preserve" their foods for longer shelf life going on here. By eating plant and animal based foods, we are far less likely to cave into these trends. :happy:

Weight can also be put on quite easily by eating very little of the wrong foods and not exercising at all....

Anya I've posted about this before too, I don't really believe it either. People that say they got really overweight from undereating??!! I always think they must conveniently forget a lot the food they eat, I had a friend like that.

Perhaps there are some that are not being honest with themselves, but you have to remember no two people are alike. When I stopped eating a lot of fast food my whole system has changed. I found that when you eat fast food...30 minutes later you are still hungry. With more wholesome food it does not take as much. Thats me as for others it may be a different story.

For me it's not the calories but the quality of the food that makes me feel full. Veggies and protein fill me up while simple carbs just make me feel hungrier. A huge stir fry of veggies and shirataki noodles for under 200 calories will make me much fuller than 1000 calories of sweets and starches.

I totally get upset when people say this....but for different reasons. I upped my calories because I am weight training now so I am happier, but before when I was restricted to 1340 calories it was sooooo hard. I can't imagine being full off of 800-900 calories, I'm constantly hungry (I could go for a snack right now, haha) so it would frsutrate me when friends who were doing MFP with me at work would eat teensy meals and I'm restraining myself to go back for seconds.
I half believe the "I'm full" thing. I know some people who eat lightly, but I do know others who can eat like me and arr lying to themselves. It's the ones who are lying to themselves who make me so crazy....but whatevs, it's their body not mine.

I eat when I"m hungry, stop when I'm not. Plus I cut out snacking and the need to have something in my mouth. So if it ends up being 800-1000 cals a day then so be it. I'm not going to overdo it just to make a few strangers happy.

I was a boredom and compulsive eater. I would snack whenever I was doing nothing, even though I wasn't hungry, and when I had a plate of food, I would fill it way too full and be unable to stop eating until my plate was cleared, even though I was way past being stuffed and would feel sick afterwards.

I'm learning to be more mindful of my choices as well as my eating patterns, so that whe nI am eating, I choose far healthier options. I've also upped my intake of fresh fruit and veg which is far lower in calories that the cheese and chocolate I would binge on before. I also no longer clear my plate if Im' full before I'm done.

As a result, my calorie intake is lower than it used to be.

I'm only just now beginning to be able to eat back some of my exercise calories, but I refuse to eat something high in calorie and fat that is unhealthy just to fill an arbitrary number. As a result, my gross calorie intake is usually well over 1200 calories, but my net intake is often lower than that once my exercise cals have been taken back off.

I can honestly say I never leave myself hungry because I know if I do, I'll be more likely to go on a binge.